Two Republican lawmakers want to celebrate 'Nikola Tesla Day' in New York

Two Republicans lawmakers in New York have proposed legislation to proclaim July 10, 2014, as "Nikola Tesla Day" in the state.

The resolution, sponsored by Reps. Kenneth LaValle and Carl Marcellino, is intended to "pay tribute to Nikola Tesla, posthumously in recognition of his tremendous efforts in the name of science and peace."

"Nikola Tesla was a true genius, a visionary inventor and a gifted mechanical and electrical engineer; he was one of the most important contributors to the birth of commercial electricity and is best known for his many revolutionary advances in the field of electromagnetism in the late 19th and 20th Centuries," the resolution states.

The bill explains that Tesla helped develop alternating current (AC) electric power systems. AC power eventually became the dominant system of electrical distribution after a bitter fight with Thomas Edison, who was aggressively promoting his direct current (DC) electric power systems.

"In 1893, Nikola Tesla's brilliance astonished the world through his demonstration of the wonders of alternating current electricity at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago; two years later, Nikola Tesla designed the first hydroelectric power plant in Niagara Falls, which was the final victory of AC transmission and would make it the standard power system from that time until the present day," the resolution says.